Nine marines from the Colombian navy were killed in combat with FARC insurgents Sunday afternoon, in the southern Amazonian department of Caqueta, according to local media reports.
Details of the incident remain murky, with some sources claiming that the soldiers were killed during an ambush by FARC guerrillas near the municipality of Solano, while others claiming that the soldiers had entered a FARC camp which contained a large cache of explosives.
According to local sources, in addition to the nine soldiers killed, two were injured, and one was reported missing.
The nine fallen marines were under the command of General Rafael Colon’s Southern Naval Force, which is located at the Tres Esquinas military base.
The guerrillas are believed to be from the FARC’s 15th Front, which has a strong presence in the region.
In December, the governor of Caqueta, Luis Francisco Cuellar Carvajal, was kidnapped and murdered in what was the most high-profile kidnapping in seven years by the FARC.